The competition is strenuous and laborious. Aside from standard adjudication from expert panel members, the hopefuls are subject to public voting. So over a period of two weeks late last year, music lovers cast their votes for the 10 finalists based on performances heard and seen on radio and television. Recording sessions were a part of the audition; the contestants were given 150 minutes to record a piece with a half-hour duration.

According to recording engineer Tse Hung-fei, the level of preparedness among the musicians varied: some came fully prepared and strove for perfection, he said, while others arrived at the session late or even left their music scores at home. But everyone's love for music was apparent, Tse added.

The choice of instruments, too, demonstrated the artistic range of the young musicians as many had chosen Chinese instruments. Nor was the music they played mere ear-pleasing tunes. 4 x 4 Plucked - comprising Crystal Chan Sze-tung, Lily Cheung Ka-yan, Henry Ho Man-hin and Liberty Lam Hoi-ki - playing the ruan and liuqin, for instance, played a new and original composition by local composer Clarence Mak entitled Somewhere in the Clouds for the recording. The quartet are students at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

Bassoonist Chan, another winner and the 'adjudicators' choice', is no stranger to public performances. The holder of a Royal Schools of Music diploma, he has played with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the Pan-Asia Symphony Orchestra, and was also a member of the Asian Youth Orchestra in 2010.

Soprano Yau is the only winner who has yet to start her tertiary education. But the Diocesan Girls' School student already has several accolades under her belt, having won prizes at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales and the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival.

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